Needing a rifle for deer.

[mattcolvin]

Hello,

I'm a new member to this site, but have read on it for a little while now. There's a whole lot of good information to be found here.

I'm looking for some advice on my upcoming selection of a rifle for deer. I'm pretty sure I'd like it to be chambered in 25-06. I do not currently reload, but I'd like to start in the next year or so. I'm a college student, so I do have to keep prices reasonable, otherwise I'd just be building off of a Remmy action.

The rifle that I'm currently leaning towards is the Ruger, specifically the newer Hawkeye model with a walnut stock. It has a few improvements over the Mark II, such as a newer trigger, cut checkering, and the two I looked at had free-floated barrels.

I haven't been able to find too much experience with the Rugers, but what I have seen seems to be slightly reviews. Do any of you have any experience with Rugers? I need a hunting rifle that will easily hold moa with at least a couple different factory loads, using bullets such as the TSX and NBT.

Also, how about the 25-06? I intend to use the rifle for whitetail deer and smaller game. Since I do not reload, I can't go with an improved caliber now. Other calibers that I thought about were the 7mm-08, and .280.

I really appreciate any help you all can give,

Matt Colvin

 

[HTSmith]

25/06 is fine for deer. With deer loads it kicks the same as a 270 so you may as well have the better deer round --a 270 Win.

7/08 is a dandy deer round. I prefer it to the 280. With factory loads you may well get more velocity out of the 7/08

No experience with Ruger. They don't play that well in accuracy circles. If you are close on your budget its hard to beat savage. Even if you are not close on your budget its hard to beat a savage.

If you plan to upgrade down the road, the Remington 700 wins.

 

[Cheaha]

I'd suggest a Remmy 700 SPS Stainless Steel model in 7mm-08. It's the perfect little short action Deer whacker that can be purchased brand new for $500 bones. You'll probably upgrade after college anyway, so you'll already have the 700 S/S short Action.

 

[Cheaha]

Here's a couple 7mm-08's that I'm rather fond of. The Titanium is a std 7mm-08 and the other is an AI version...

 

[M700]

An awful lot of good hunting has also been done with good used rifles. You'll need to be careful selecting one, but generally a good used Remington, Winchester or Ruger can be picked up for about 2/3 the price of a new one. Check the pawn shops and gunshops that take in trades. Also, I've found that I've been able to pick up used Leupold hunting scopes at some pawn shops and gun shops.. Great scopes at great prices!

Nothing wrong with the Ruger as a general purpose hunting rifle at all. I particularly like Ruger's scope mounting system. Nothing wrong with the Remington or the Savage either for that purpose. Money saved on the purchase of a good, inexpensive rifle will let you buy a decent scope for it - which is very important.

The .25-06 is a fine cartridge, I hunt mule deer and coyotes with mine. For deer though, I think cartridge choice is vastly over-rated. There's a plethora of cartridges avail which will do a fine job on deer, from the .243 Winchester up through the .30-06 and above. Something that doesn't kick much, and will get the job done is a great idea. Things like the .270, .308 Win and stuff like that are just fine. I don't think cartridge choice matters a whole lot unless you're talking really long ranges or really big deer. A little .243 Winchester kills deer just as dead as a big ol' .300 Win mag, with a lot less fuss and bother. With good shot placement, deer just aren't that hard to kill.

Regards, Guy

 

[terryb]

Matt,i have a pretty nice 700 bdl in 24" .270,i'm going to part it out,but will sell it complete for $380.00 plus shipping,shoots very good with several bullets.

 

[halfmile]

My favorite deer gun is a 257 Roberts. Deer just fall down and never run away.

I have seen too much meat spoiled by 25-06 hits. I would use one for antelope, but not for deer in Wis. or Mich.

Since my kid never lets me have the Roberts I am forced to use a .308, and that works good with 150 gr. Game kings.

HM

 

[JimD]

My son, who just graduated college in May, uses a Savage in 7mm/08. It is a package gun with an inexpensive scope. I have done no load development, just loaded a light load of H414 under a 139 grain Hornady. It will easily shoot 1 inch 3 shot groups at 100 yards. No bedding, no nothing. It should be able to do better if we worked on it but this seems easily sufficent for deer.

I shoot a 30-06. I do not find that lighter bullets, I shoot as light as 100 grain handloads with full power loads starting with 125 grain ballistic tips, have less apparent recoil to me than heavier bullets. Others think heavier bullets recoil more, however. If you happen to feel recoil like I do, a 25-06 will feel about like a 30-06 and be noticably different than a 7mm-08. A 7mm-08 is also a more versatile round than a 25-06. With 160 or 175 grain bullets, a 7mm-08 is usually seen as a light but adequate elk cartridge. Most would not view a 25-06 adequate for elk.

25-06 better for long range shooting and could be a heavy but acceptable varmit/deer round but 7mm-08 better all around. 260 is another good deer+ round. All the cases on the 308 basic case design shoot accurately and have less recoil than those on the 30-06. With lighter bullets, the 308 case has good capacity.


Jim

 

[ghermitage]

Even if you are not close on your budget its hard to beat a savage.

If you plan to upgrade down the road, the Remington 700 wins.

With quick upgrading of barrel and boltface without a gunsmith's services,which can involve long delays), surely the prize belongs to Savage. The 700 has more aftermarket accessories, but fitting a new barrel and changing to the cartridge of your choice at home has to be a good thing in the upgradability stakes.

 

[PAshooter20BR]

another vote here for the 7mm-08...many more bullets to select from and it is a dynamite deer round.